An Almost Missed Lunch and a Long-Coming Conversation
by Lautitiaspero
Summary: After the Straw Hats leave Dressrosa with Trafalgar Law, Koala and Sabo, Luffy can't seem to find his long-lost brother from anywhere.


Luffy, despite appearances, was not stupid. Or at least not as stupid as some (mainly Nami and Usopp- it was fun to go see a volcano erupt and of course he had needed to give all his allowance for that piece of meat) would think. Not including Zoro and Robin, of course, because Robin was just smart and Zoro understood, even if he didn't always necessarily voice his opinion.

Anyways, Luffy was not stupid and it didn't take him long to understand why exactly Sabo continued to escape to the lower levels of Sunny whenever Luffy wanted to talk to him or hug him (and never let go again). And when Luffy tried to go after him, Koala was there to put a resisting hand on his shoulder and tell him to just leave the revolutionary alone.

Which was kinda mean, because even if Luffy hadn't seen his brother in nearly a decade, he could still understand that the older man wanted to be left alone. He could, really, it was just that he didn't really care, for Sabo was obviously being stupid and needed his little brother to beat some sense into him.

Luffy liked Koala though, because she had many funny stories to tell about Sabo and she got on well with Robin, as she told the older woman about what the revolutionaries had been up to in the last few months. Luffy had opted to listen too at the beginning, but the long and complicated plans were not interesting enough to hold his attention for very long. So, after a short while, he began to slip away in order to search for Sabo, which wasn't an easy thing to do at all. Sunny, though a small ship, had many nooks and crannies where one could hide and Luffy let the delicious scent of Sanji's meat pull him back to the deck.

Up there he found that all of his crew plus Torao and Koala had already gathered to the galley and when he entered, everybody but Sanji and Zoro (who were fighting), Koala (who simply didn't understand how strange it was for Luffy to be late for lunch) and Law (who just didn't care) staring at him, though no-one chose to say anything. Using everybody's distractedness to his advantage, Luffy quickly cleaned off his plate as well as Sanji's and Zoro's and was out of the door before even Nami could scold him.

Throwing himself right back into his search (now with an almost full stomach), Luffy almost didn't notice the blond figure standing beside his special spot on Sunny's figurehead before he was off the deck. Turning around sharply the younger man trotted over to haul himself onto the railing beside his brother, who was looking off towards the horizon with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Man! I have been looking everywhere for you!" complained Luffy loudly as he swung his legs and pouted at Sabo. The blond jumped a little and turned his startled blue eyes to stare at his brother.

"Luffy, when did you get here?" he asked, but the younger just shook his head and said wisely, "You gotta notice your surroundings, Sabo, or you won't notice when someone offers you meat."

Sabo's mouth twitched upwards into a small smirk and he looked back at the sea. "You really haven't changed at all, have you, Luffy?" he asked, half-happy, half-sad.

"You should stop running away from me," said Luffy suddenly, and when Sabo turned to face him again he found the dark-haired boy's face serious and eyes troubled.

Without even bothering to deny Luffy's words (he was right after all) the blond sighed and said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Luffy sounded genuinely surprised. He had been a little angry at Sabo when they first ran into each other in the coliseum at Dressrosa, but that was already forgiven. Sabo hadn't done anything bad and Luffy was just so glad he was alive.

"For lying to you and Ace and for not being… there." The revolutionary didn't need to specify where there was, the options were pretty limited anyways.

Luffy frowned at Sabo.

"Well, it is not your fault," he said decisively as he hid his eyes under the straw hat he had become known for, "Ace doesn't think so and I don't either."

Sabo couldn't really say anything. For the two years that had followed his brother's death Sabo had blamed himself for not being there in time. For not saving Ace and for not even trying. He had heard from Ivankov what his little brother had done and suffered and he couldn't shake away the quilt of not being there at least to pick up the pieces and protect their little brother as he had told Ace to do in that letter a long, long time ago.

Apparently he had waited too long to answer because the next moment he had a lapful of pliant rubber brother in his arms.

"Stupid Sabo," he heard the other whisper from his chest where the younger was pressed and Sabo tightened his arms. Then he started laughing, first quietly and then louder, with tears of grief and happiness and of-course- those-idiots-forgive-me-we-are-brothers running down his face. He pressed his nose into the mess of black hair and said jokingly, "You are stupid."

He didn't notice Luffy's loud giggling before the chuckles of his crewmates joined their captain's laughter.

"Are you alright?" asked Koala when he looked up to find everybody on the deck and Sabo grinned, a wild and happy look on his face to show her exactly how alright he was. His special moment with his little brother was cut a bit short though, when a pair of angry swordsman and cook ran towards them and Luffy took off out of Sabo's arms, yelling over his shoulder at his pissed-off crewmates, "but your food was so yummy and I was hungry!" before Zoro and Sanji tackled him. That too came to a quick end as Nami's fists connected with the trio's heads. Sabo laughed at them all, so happy and finally free. Ace was gone, but Luffy was there and he was strong and he had wonderful nakama to take care of him and look after him. He had people to love and protect and he had Sabo, who would now take over the position of an older brother left to him by Ace.

And one day Luffy would be the man who became the Pirate King!


End file.
